


Fools

by spanglecap



Series: Prompt Fills & Drabbles [4]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Drabble, F/M, Fluff, Getting Together, Mutual Pining, Pining, Romance, second chapter slightly longer than drabble
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-25
Updated: 2015-06-25
Packaged: 2018-04-06 01:17:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4202400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spanglecap/pseuds/spanglecap
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He was like looking at the sun, but she lived in the shadows.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I was talking to heyfrenchfreudiana about Steve Rogers being a little ray of sunshine and I don't even know what this is but have it anyway

She used to think he was naive, at first. Foolish.

Theirs is a world of deceit and blood. Of betrayal, violence and conspiracies. Wars could break out with a single action, and people you thought could be trusted would turn around and lie with their tongues and bite with their teeth.

But Steve Rogers was a man who would still rather offer his hand before a fist.

He was like looking at the sun, his light untainted and unwavering. Strong, and sometimes overwhelming in intensity. How could anyone live in a world as dark and terrible as theirs and still remain so unendingly kind? Still have so much _faith_ in people? How could someone be that unshakably _good_?

It was something she’d grown to admire about him, even though Natasha didn’t understand it for a while. She’d never met anyone like him before, never thought those kind of people actually existed. It just didn’t seem feasible.

One day she’d noticed the weariness in his eyes. The pain he kept hidden from the very people he tried to help. But it never seemed to stop him from fighting or impair his judgement and he had this habit of making people want to be better versions of themselves. His sincerity only made her want to reach out and let his warmth smother her, to bask in his light and soothe his troubles away, because nobody else ever quite seemed to notice the way his shoulders would slump sometimes like she did.

But her place was in the shadows, with the liars and killers.

And he deserved so much more than she could ever hope to be.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Look there's more

He was blushing when he finally asked her. Natasha had always liked it when he blushed, but she'd never figured out why.

She could just make out the pinkish tinge dusting the top of his cheeks under the grime and dirt of fighting, his hair a complete mess and sweat still on his brow. They stood near the jet while the clean-up crew swept the area of debris, and she tried not to think about how warm his hand felt on her shoulder when he pulled her to one side for some privacy.

“Nat,” he started, and already his cheeks were pink. “I was wondering, after all this is over, if you might…if we could maybe go…out for dinner sometime?”

He didn’t stumble over the words like she thought he might, and he looked anxious as he waited for her response, chewing on his bottom lip and holding his breath.

“Steve…” she started, and her heart clenched at the way his face fell.

“No, I know what you’re gonna say,” he told her, before she can even open her mouth to speak again. He looked determined now, the way he looked before a fight. “You’re going to say we’d never stand a chance. But I’ve been thinking lately – why not? We already know we work well together and I…” He trailed off, swallowed thickly before looking back up at her in earnest. “It’s only dinner. Let’s just…see what happens.”

He offered her a small, hopeful smile which only made Natasha’s chest ache even more, affection clear in his eyes.

“I’m not a good person, Steve,” she said slowly, trying to make her point clear. She'd thought about it before, more times than she'd care to admit. It would never work between them. But it looked like he'd been thinking about it too.

“You are a good person. I know you are,” he argued, jaw set. "I think you're incredible." There he went again, stubborn as a mule and refusing to see anything but good in people. In her.

“There are things you don’t know about me. The things I’ve done-”

“-Don’t matter to me,” he cut in quickly. He exhaled heavily, trying to find the right words. “I’m not saying it’ll be easy. But I want you. Everything you were. Everything you _are_ , by my side. I want all of it, and don’t lie to me and say you don’t want me too.”

Natasha breath seemed to catch in her throat. That’s another thing she hadn’t realised about Steve, at first. He was deceivingly perceptive at times, and she’d been a fool to think she could hide herself in the shadows from him. His expression softened, and he brought a hand up to tentatively thread his fingers through hers.

“I’m just asking for dinner,” he said softly. “We can think about what happens after when we get to that part.”

She glanced down at their hands, still entwined. It didn’t feel as scary as she thought it would. It felt good.

“Just dinner,” she repeated, looking back up at him, and his smile seemed to loosen the knot in her chest. Because that was the thing about knowing Steve Rogers had faith in you. It made you feel like you could do anything.

“Is that a yes?” he asked hopefully.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had ‘just dinner’ with someone before,” she admitted, an advance apology in case she messed it up. Which she probably would. But he wanted to try, and deep down, so did she.

“I’m pretty new to it as well,” he joked with a smile. “We can figure it out together.”

Maybe they could. And perhaps she wasn’t confined to the shadows after all. Maybe she _could_ stand in the light with him.

“Is it forward of me to want to kiss you right now?” he asked bashfully, that crooked smile still on his face. Natasha’s heart skips a beat.

Without hesitation, she pulled his lips down to hers, the kiss leaving them both breathless and panting against each other’s mouths for the first time.

She hoped it wouldn’t be the last.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was just super quick drabble but I had fun writing it even though it's not perfect. Hope you enjoyed reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Why do I feel like I'm going to regret posting this in the morning it's so short


End file.
